Deck 8: Behaviour in Social and Cultural Context

Question 1

What cultural differences have been found in regard to the fundamental attribution error?

Answer 1

A good answer will include the following key points.
- The fundamental attribution error refers to overestimating the role of dispositional factors and underestimating the role of situational factors in other people's behaviour.
- The fundamental attribution error is more prevalent in Western nations, where people tend to believe that individuals are responsible for their own actions.
- The fundamental attribution error is less common in East Asian countries, where people are more group-oriented and more likely to be aware of situational constraints on behaviour.

Question 2

What is cognitive dissonance? List one example of this state of psychological tension.

Answer 2

A good answer will include the following key points.
- Cognitive dissonance is a state of tension that occurs when a person holds two incongruent beliefs or when a person's behaviour is incongruent with his or her stated attitude.
- An example is the discomfort that occurs when a person who professes that smoking is bad for your health nevertheless continues to smoke.

Question 3

Explain the term "deindividuation" and how it affects people. Is the effect on behaviour always the same, or can it vary?

Answer 3

A good answer will include the following key points.
- Deindividuation occurs when people feel anonymous in a large crowd and lose awareness of their individuality.
- Deindividuated people in crowds "forget themselves" and do not feel accountable for their actions; they are therefore more likely to violate social norms and laws.
- Deindividuation does not always make people more combative. Sometimes it makes them friendlier.

Question 4

Which of the following is a symptom of groupthink?

A) a feeling of vulnerability
B) weak leadership within the group
C) self-censorship
D) disagreement

Question 5

What criticisms have been raised regarding Milgram's comparison of his study with the brutality of the Nazis during World War II?

Question 6

What is meant by the term ethnocentrism? Give one example to illustrate this term.

Question 7

Before conducting his study of obedience, Stanley Milgram asked a number of psychiatrists, students, and other adults to predict how many people they thought would deliver shocks at the highest levels. What predictions did they make?

Question 8

If a person had an epileptic seizure in a public place, she would be more likely to be helped if:

A) one person was in the area.
B) four to five people were in the area.
C) a dozen people were in the area.
D) the place was crowded with many people.

Question 9

What important positive role do stereotypes play in human thinking?

Question 10

Describe the technique that Joseph Goebbels called "The Big Lie."

Question 11

Describe the experimental design of the conformity studies conducted by Solomon Asch.

Question 12

What is an attitude? Give an example of an attitude that would be considered explicit and one that would be considered implicit.

Question 13

Describe the story of entrapment told by the 25 men who had served in the Greek military during the authoritarian regime that ended in 1974.

Question 14

When students were held as "prisoners" in the Stanford prison study, how did they respond during the first days of the experiment? Why did the researchers end the study at Day 6, instead of Day 14 as initially planned?

Question 15

Who conducted an experiment on conformity in which people were asked to judge the length of lines?

A) Solomon Asch
B) Stanley Milgram
C) Philip Zimbardo
D) Muzafer Sherif

Question 16

A state of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent is called:

A) cognitive dissonance.
B) the fundamental attribution error.
C) the validity effect.
D) deindividuation.

Question 17

The familiarity effect is the tendency of people to:

A) be unable to distinguish between actual experiences and what they have been told.
B) believe that a statement is true simply because it has been repeated a number of times.
C) feel more positive toward a person, item, product, or other stimulus that they have seen often.
D) overestimate their abilities to have predicted an event once the outcome is known.

Question 18

Define groupthink and list four common symptoms.

Question 19

The Stanford prison study demonstrates how a person's ________ affect(s) behaviour.

A) beliefs
B) values
C) role
D) past experience

Question 20

The philosopher Hannah Arendt, when covering the trial of Adolf Eichmann, used the phrase "the banality of evil" to explain how so many people in Nazi Germany supervised the deportation and death of millions of Jews. What does this phrase mean?

Question 21

Who conducted the "obedience study" in which an authority figure commanded participants to violate their ethical standards?

A) Solomon Asch
B) Stanley Milgram
C) Philip Zimbardo
D) Muzafer Sherif

Question 22

According to attribution theory, the explanations we give for our behaviour and the behaviour of others generally fall into two categories:

A) dispositional and situational.
B) environmental and situational.
C) mental and physical.
D) implicit and explicit.

Question 23

Culture can be defined as a program of shared ________ that govern the behaviour of people in a society, as well as a set of shared values and beliefs.

A) social roles
B) rules or norms
C) expectations
D) cognitions

Question 24

Research on social roles suggests that:

A) people usually follow social roles with conscious deliberation.
B) certain aspects of every role must be carried out or there will almost always be penalties.
C) male gender roles in Western cultures have been resistant to any changes.
D) social roles are fairly independent of culture.

Question 25

________ is a tendency for people on a team or a mission together to agree with each other and suppress dissension among their ranks.

A) Groupthink
B) Diffusion of responsibility
C) Cognitive dissonance
D) Deindividuation

Question 26

One way in which stereotypes can distort reality is that:

A) they exaggerate differences between groups.
B) they exaggerate differences within stereotyped groups.
C) they increase awareness of evidence that contradicts stereotypes.
D) they make it seem like groups are different, when in reality, most groups are exactly the same.

Question 27

Lucas walks around his busy university campus between classes. He notices smoke coming from the side of the cafeteria, but assumes that someone inside already has called the fire department. What phenomenon does this example illustrate?

A) the just-world hypothesis
B) diffusion of responsibility
C) deindividuation
D) groupthink

Question 28

______ reflects a behavioural expression of prejudice: a reluctance to get too close to another group.

A) Personal space
B) Social distance
C) Cultural space
D) Discrimination distance

Question 29

Who conducted the "obedience study" in which an authority figure commanded participants to violate their ethical standards?

A) Solomon Asch
B) Stanley Milgram
C) Philip Zimbardo
D) Muzafer Sherif

Question 30

The Robbers Cave experiment showed that:

A) playing athletic games, such as football and baseball, reduces us-them hostility.
B) watching movies together, and similar quiet interactions, reduces us-them hostility.
C) engaging in mutually exciting activities, such as tug or war, reduces us-them hostility.
D) interdependence in reaching mutual goals reduces us-them hostility.

Question 31

Which of the following is a situation that increases the likelihood someone will act altruistically?

A) No one is actually in danger or in need of help.
B) He or she becomes entrapped by previous actions.
C) He or she is the only person willing to act.
D) There are no situational factors that increase altruistic behaviour.

Question 32

Which of the following increased the likelihood that participants would disobey in Milgram's obedience study?

A) having only one teacher
B) having the experimenter in the room with the teacher
C) having two experimenters issuing the same commands
D) having the experimenter be an ordinary man

Question 33

Which of the following is the most common explanation of bystander apathy?

A) diffusion of responsibility
B) entrapment
C) blaming the victim
D) acculturation

Question 34

An implicit cultural standard has been violated when:

A) taxes are due on April 30 but a person doesn't file a return.
B) a parent allows a 13-year-old to get behind the wheel for a short drive home.
C) a driver accelerates during a yellow light in order to cross the intersection.
D) the school library is almost completely empty but a student sits right next to a stranger.

Question 35

A cultural cause of prejudice is that it:

A) helps people bond to their own ethnic group.
B) encourages acculturation.
C) increases disobedience.
D) replaces official forms of discrimination.

Question 36

Explicit laws and implicit cultural conventions are both examples of:

A) norms.
B) roles.
C) routines.
D) stereotypes.

Question 37

Culture can be defined as a program of shared ________ that govern the behaviour of people in a society as well as a set of shared values and beliefs.

A) social roles
B) rules or norms
C) expectations
D) cognitions

Question 38

________ are the rules that regulate social life within a culture.

A) Norms
B) Roles
C) Routines
D) Stereotypes

Question 39

About ________ of all participants in Milgram's study administered the highest level of shock to the learner.

A) a fourth
B) a third
C) half
D) two-thirds

Question 40

Donald enters an elevator and stands in it, facing the back instead of turning around to face the elevator door. Donald is violating:

A) his gender role.
B) a social role.
C) a norm.
D) a stereotype.

Question 41

________ is defined as a gradual process in which individuals escalate their commitment to a course of action to justify their investment of time, money, or effort.

A) Motivation
B) Entrapment
C) Acculturation
D) Conformity

Question 42

William is a police officer who is instructed by a superior officer to beat a suspect in order to obtain a confession. According to research conducted on obedience, William is more likely to disobey this order if:

A) the superior officer is in the room with William and the suspect.
B) another senior officer agrees that William should beat the suspect.
C) the suspect asks William to stop.
D) William sees another police officer refuse to continue beating the suspect.

Question 43

Which of the following increased the likelihood that participants would disobey in Milgram's obedience study?

A) having only one teacher
B) having the experimenter in the room with the teacher
C) having two experimenters issuing the same commands
D) having the experimenter be an ordinary man

Question 44

Which of the following is true about obedience?

A) Obedience is not always harmful or bad, and is necessary in many cases.
B) Most people follow orders because they secretly enjoy being told what to do.
C) Most people follow orders despite a strong desire to "rock the boat."
D) Entrapment is a process that helps people disobey.

Question 45

Critics of the Stanford prison study argue that:

A) the methodology was flawed, because participants were not randomly assigned to either the prisoner role or the guard role.
B) by stopping the study after six days instead of letting it continue for the two-week experimental period, the researchers had not allowed enough time for dramatic change to occur.
C) a makeshift prison in the basement of a university building was not an effective setting to investigate the factors involved.
D) briefing the guards at the beginning of the study influenced their behaviour, and the study merely showed how willingly people obey orders.

Question 46

Milgram concluded that obedience in his study was a function of:

A) the religious beliefs of the participant.
B) the personality of the participant.
C) the responses made by the learner.
D) the situation of the experiment.

Question 47

In the Stanford prison study, male college students agreed to participate in a two-week experiment to discover what would happen when they took on the roles of prisoners and guards. The researchers found that:

A) within a short time the prisoners became distressed and felt helpless, developing emotional symptoms and physical ailments.
B) about five percent of the guards became tyrannical, giving the prisoners electric shocks when they were slow in obeying their orders.
C) 90 percent of the guards tried to be "tough but fair" and demanded that the tyrannical guards lighten up on the prisoners because it was only a simulation.
D) the study was conducted in an unused wing of a real prison; therefore, the realistic atmosphere enhanced the role behaviour of prisoners and guards.

Question 48

Milgram's study of obedience has been criticized on the basis of:

A) its lack of random assignment.
B) the inability of any of its findings to be replicated.
C) the physical pain learners experienced from the electric shock.
D) the emotional distress and deception experienced by participants.

Question 49

In the Milgram study, under which of the following conditions were the participants (teachers) most likely to disobey orders from experimenters?

A) when the participant and the learner were in separate rooms
B) when two experimenters both encouraged the participant to continue
C) when the participant worked with a peer who refused to continue the procedure
D) when the person ordering them to continue was a Ph.D. and wore a lab coat

Question 50

________ generally have the greatest conversational distance compared to other cultures; that is, they stand further apart when they converse.

A) Southern Europeans
B) Arabs
C) The English and Swedes
D) Latin Americans

Question 51

The Stanford prison study demonstrates how a person's ________ affect(s) behaviour.

A) beliefs
B) values
C) role
D) past experience

Question 52

Before Stanley Milgram conducted the obedience study, he surveyed several psychiatrists, students, and middle-class adults as to how many people they predicted would go all the way to the highest voltage under the instructions of the authority. Milgram's survey found that:

A) psychiatrists accurately predicted that about 45 percent of the participants would inflict what they thought were dangerous amounts of shock.
B) students and middle-class adults accurately predicted that about 25 percent of the participants would inflict what they thought were dangerous amounts of shock.
C) psychiatrists predicted that only one person in a thousand would administer the highest voltage and the nonprofessionals agreed with this statement.
D) psychiatrists, students, and middle-class adults accurately predicted that about 15 percent of the participants would inflict what they thought were dangerous amounts of shock.

Question 53

Which of the following is an example of entrapment as it relates to obedience?

A) A friend who is moving asks you to bring over a few empty boxes; when you arrive, he asks you to fill the boxes with dishes, and before you realize it, you've packed his entire kitchen.
B) A friend convinces you that it would be fun to stand backwards in the checkout line of the grocery store, and other customers gawk at you.
C) A friend invites you to her wedding, but then complains that the gift you brought wasn't expensive enough.
D) A friend encourages you to participate in a music competition and gives you tips to maintain poise and relax. When the competition commences, he nags you with more suggestions.

Question 54

Results of Stanley Milgram's study on obedience showed that:

A) about two-thirds of the subjects stopped delivering shocks when the learner first demanded to be free.
B) about two-thirds of the subjects, from all ages and from all walks of life, obeyed to the fullest extent.
C) almost 90 percent of the women and about 60 percent of the men stopped administering shocks even though the experimenter said, "The experiment requires that you continue."
D) about 90 percent of the older adults and about 60 percent of the students stopped administering shocks even though the experimenter said, "The experiment requires that you continue."

Question 55

About ________ of all participants in Milgram's study administered the highest level of shock to the learner.

A) a fourth
B) a third
C) half
D) two-thirds

Question 56

Which of the following actions by the "learner" reduced the likelihood of being shocked by the "teacher" in Milgram's study?

A) protesting noisily
B) screaming in pain
C) complaining of having a heart ailment
D) nothing the learner did substantially affected the likelihood of being shocked

Question 57

Replications of Milgram's study of obedience showed:

A) occupational differences, because 90 percent of lower-SES individuals and 55 percent of upper-SES individuals inflicted what they thought were dangerous levels of shocks to the "learner."
B) gender differences in a willingness to obey, because 75 percent of men but only 30 percent of women inflicted what they thought were dangerous levels of shocks to the "learner."
C) that more than 90 percent of the subjects in Spain and in the Netherlands inflicted what they thought were dangerous levels of shocks to the "learner."
D) that when the victim said that he had a heart ailment or screamed in agony, 10 percent of the "teachers" inflicted what they thought were dangerous levels of shocks to the "learner."

Question 58

Which statement best describes an aspect of Stanley Milgram's study of obedience?

A) an ominous-looking shock machine, which had voltage markings from zero to 450 volts
B) participants in the study were randomly assigned to be teachers or learners
C) participants were electrically shocked when they made errors in reciting word pairs
D) a learner and the teacher always sat side by side across from the shock machine

Question 59

Tahir, an Arab, and Jan, a Swede, meet at a dinner for international students. Because the cultures of the two men differ with regard to ________, both may feel uncomfortable during their conversation.

A) knowledge of a common eating etiquette
B) attitudes toward higher education
C) explicit laws
D) conversational distance

Question 60

According to C. P. Snow, "more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of ________ than in the name of rebellion."

A) obedience
B) conformity
C) religion
D) the law

Question 61

The tendency for people to take personal credit for their good actions, but blame the situation for their mistakes, is known as the:

A) fundamental attribution error.
B) just-world bias
C) validity effect.
D) self-serving bias.

Question 62

When we make situational attributions, we are identifying the cause of an action as something:

A) in the environment.
B) in the person's disposition.
C) that is a biological trait.
D) in the unconscious.

Question 63

A belief about people, groups, ideas, or activities is called a(n):

A) social norm.
B) attitude.
C) attribution.
D) disposition.

Question 64

Researchers in the area of ________ examine how people's perception of themselves and others affect their relationships.

A) psychoanalysis
B) sociobiology
C) social cognition
D) experimental psychology

Question 65

Attribution theory examines:

A) the explanations people make about the causes of their own behaviours and the behaviours of others.
B) the psychological traits or "attributes" that a person possesses.
C) the way in which attitudes affect our behaviour.
D) the tension caused by holding two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent.

Question 66

______________ refers to the tendency to overestimate dispositional influences (and underestimate situational influences) when explaining another person's behaviour.

A) Cognitive dissonance
B) The fundamental attribution error
C) Diffusion of responsibility
D) Deindividuation

Question 67

The basic asymmetry in social perception is due, in part, to the ________, which makes you feel good about yourself even when you shouldn't.

A) confidence quotient
B) fundamental attribution error
C) self-serving bias
D) familiarity effect

Question 68

According to the just-world hypothesis, people tend to believe that:

A) a person's actions are just if they truly believe in them.
B) all members should benefit equally from belonging to a social group.
C) bad people are punished and good people are rewarded.
D) rewards come to us in just this world, and not in the afterlife.

Question 69

The familiarity effect is the tendency of people to:

A) be unable to distinguish between actual experiences and what they have been told.
B) believe that a statement is true simply because it has been repeated a number of times.
C) feel more positive toward a person, item, product, or other stimulus that they have seen often.
D) overestimate their abilities to have predicted an event once the outcome is known.

Question 70

Cognitive dissonance is:

A) a state of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent.
B) the tendency of members of a group to avoid taking responsibility for their actions because they assume that others will do so.
C) the tendency for members of a close-knit group to think alike for the sake of harmony and to suppress disagreement.
D) a belief that a statement is true just because the person has heard it repeated over and over again.

Question 71

In which of the following countries would the fundamental attribution error be more prevalent?

A) India
B) Canada
C) China
D) Japan

Question 72

A state of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent is known as:

A) cognitive dissonance.
B) the fundamental attribution error.
C) the validity effect.
D) deindividuation.

Question 73

Social _______________ refers to the effect of social influences on thought, memory, perception, and beliefs.

A) attribution
B) entrapment
C) dissonance
D) cognition

Question 74

Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, used a technique called "The Big Lie." He knew that people begin to believe that a statement is true simply because it has been repeated a number of times. The formal name for this technique is:

A) the validity effect.
B) groupthink.
C) diffusion of responsibility.
D) symbolic racism.

Question 75

When people in Western countries try to find reasons for someone else's behaviour, they tend to:

A) ignore dispositional attributions in favour of situational attributions.
B) leap to the attribution that people's behaviours correspond to the context.
C) explore the personality traits and the environmental constraints to derive an explanation.
D) overestimate personality traits and underestimate the influence of the situation.

Question 76

While stuck in a traffic jam, Yani notices a frustrated driver frequently honking his horn. Yani thinks to himself, "That driver is a real jerk!" This is an example of a _______________ attribution.

A) situational
B) dispositional
C) self-serving
D) prejudiced

Question 77

According to attribution theory, the explanations we give for our behaviour and the behaviour of others generally fall into two categories:

A) dispositional and situational.
B) environmental and situational.
C) mental and physical
D) implicit and explicit.

Question 78

Janet, an administrative assistant at a London firm, is trying to find reasons for her boss's hostile behaviour. She is likely to:

A) ignore her boss's dispositional attributions in favour of situational attributions.
B) leap to the attribution that her boss's behaviour corresponds to work demands.
C) explore her boss's personality traits and the environmental constraints to derive an explanation.
D) overestimate her boss's personality traits and underestimate the influence of the situation.

Question 79

Garret has a tendency to take credit for his good actions, but he attributes his mistakes to factors beyond his control. This is an example of:

A) the fundamental attribution error.
B) the validity effect.
C) the just-world hypothesis.
D) the self-serving bias.

Question 80

________ occurs when a person chooses attributions for his or her own behaviour that are favourable.

A) The fundamental attribution error
B) The just-world error
C) The self-serving bias
D) Entrapment